Common Conditions

Erection Hardness Score

Disadvantages of the EHS and Recent Research

The shortness of the EHS can also be a disadvantage. With just one item, the EHS does not evaluate other factors related to erectile dysfunction. It cannot give clinicians the whole picture like the IIEF can, with its five domains.

Also, the EHS might not be appropriate for all clinical situations. For example, a recent study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine examined the validity of the EHS for men who had erectile dysfunction following radical prostatectomy. The 75 participants were using alprostadil injections to treat their ED.

At 6-month and 12-month follow-up points, the researchers used several assessment tools, including the EHS and the IIEF. (Other tools used were the Global Assessment Questionnaire and the Numeric Pain Scale.)

They found that the EHS had good convergent validity. The men’s scores aligned with the other assessment tools used. The EHS had “adequate” known-groups validity and treatment responsiveness. However, it also had limited time responsiveness and limited predictive validity when compared to the IIEF.